Vampyres

Another try at dipping my toe into the murky waters of modern horror and it's 2015's VAMPYRES, a remake of the Jose Ramon Larraz 1974 same-name classic that I happen to rate quite highly. As usual with remakes, I spent most of the time wondering whether it was worth it, and the answer is unsurprisingly no. This is virtually a shot-for-shot retread missing out entirely the horror and eroticism of the original, replacing them with extra characters and boring subplots.

From the outset this is a tough slog, a very cheap looking digital production with that greyed-out look that many of us recognise and hate. It's another Spanish film, badly dubbed in English in the version showing on Netflix, and the no-name cast give resolutely poor performances, particularly the lead actresses who do nothing with their roles. There's some requisite blood and nudity but it's a far cry from that of the original film. The only notable thing are a couple of nothing cameos from Caroline Munro and Lone Fleming (TOMBS OF THE BLIND DEAD). Avoid!